Des rues aux écrans : clips vidéos et critique politique au Liban
Noel and Michelle Keserwany explore the potential of audiovisual content, particularly video clips, as a medium for their social and activist commitment in Lebanon. These videos, which punctuate the country’s various fractures over the last ten years, from the economic crisis to the recent explosion in Beirut, function as a satirical chronicle and rallying space for politicized but neglected youth. These productions give rise to interventions in the public space, conceived as filmed performances, using the means of popular culture such as song or animation, to avoid censorship. This narrative work led them to Les Chenilles , their first medium-length film, and has also transformed their video practice and sculpted their artistic approach. On this evening (in French), Noel and Michelle Keserwany will describe their artistic and collaborative trajectory: from their first video clip, made in 2012 and going viral when they were 21 and 23, to their film Les Chenilles , presented at the Lyon Biennale in 2022 and named best short film at the Berlinale 2023. Their presentation, interspersed with excerpts, will be followed by a conversation with Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez, Head of Artistic and Cultural Programming at Cité internationale des Arts, and a Q&A with the audience. Cet événement est désormais complet. Pour vous inscrire sur liste d’attente en cas de désistements, merci de nous écrire à paris@kadist.org. Michelle Keserwany is a self-taught Lebanese writer, musician and filmmaker. Alongside her sister Noel, Michelle has been creating satirical music videos with a socio-political slant for the past decade. The two sisters write, perform and direct these videos to disrupt conventional power dynamics as well as entrenched injustices and socio-political developments. Inspired by their musical and political backgrounds, the sisters are currently working on their first documentary entitled à feu doux . Their first mixed-media short film, Les Chenilles , 30 minutes long, written by Michelle and directed by Michelle and Noel, who plays one of the two lead roles alongside Syrian actress Masa Zaher, was exhibited at the Lyon Biennale. The film, a co-production between the Biennale de Lyon and Dewberries Films with support from KADIST, won the Golden Bear for Best Short Film at the Berlinale in 2023. Since receiving a grant from the French Institute for a writing residency at La Cité des Arts in Paris in 2019, Michelle has been based between France and Lebanon. In parallel, Michelle is currently working on her first feature film, AMARA , a satirical drama set in Beirut. For this project, she received the “Aide au Parcours d’Auteur” grant from the CNC in 2021, supporting her research for two years. Noel Keserwany is a Lebanese multidisciplinary artist. Growing up amidst Lebanon’s socio-political turmoil, she developed a vocal critique of the situation using different storytelling methods. Since 2012, Noel and his sister Michelle have been writing, performing and making political music videos to confront the corruption and oppression of Lebanon’s political system. Their songs, widely distributed online, have met with a vast audience across various media. Les Chenilles , the first film directed by Noel and Michelle, won the Golden Bear for Best Short Film at the 2023 Berlin Film Festival. In this film written by Michelle and directed by Michelle and Noel, Noel plays one of the lead roles alongside Syrian actress Massa Zaher. It was screened at the Lyon Biennale and is now part of KADIST’s permanent contemporary art collection. In 2021, Noel was selected by the French Institute and the Cité Internationale des Arts for two consecutive artistic residencies to develop her films in progress. Noel is currently developing Seven Mountains and Seven Seas , an animated short based on an unpublished story by Lebanese writer Emily Nasrallah. The film has received development funding from the Doha Film Institute (DFI). Noel is also working on his feature film Un An . In collaboration with Michelle Keserwany, they are also developing their feature-length political documentary à feu doux . Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez (b. 1976, Ljubljana) is an interdependent curator, editor and art critic. Since 2021, she has been responsible for artistic and cultural programming at the Cité internationale des arts, Paris. Exhibitions she has curated include Not Fully Human, Not Human at A ll , organized by KADIST, Paris and Kunstverein in Hamburg (2017-2021, with Emilie Villez, Bettina Steinbrügge and Salma Mochtari); Contour Biennale 9: Coltan as Cotton (2019, Mechelen); Defiant Muses: Delphine Seyrig and the Feminist Video Collectives in France (1970-1980) at LaM, Lille and the Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid (2019-2020, with Giovanna Zapperi); S how me your archive and I will tell you who is in power at Kiosk, Ghent (2017, with Wim Waelput); Let’s Talk about the Weather at the Sursock Museum, Beirut and the Times Museum, Guangzhou (2016 and 2018, with Nora Razian); Resilience. U3 – Triennial of Contemporary Art in Slovenia at MSUM, Ljubljana (2013). She was co-director of Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers (2010-2012, with Alice Chauchat and Grégory Castéra). She was editor-in-chief of Manifesta Journal (2012-14) and L’Internationale Online (2014- 2017). With Elena Sorokina, she is co-founder of the Initiative for practices and visions of radical care . With Patricia Falguières and Elisabeth Lebovici, she is co-organizer of the Something You Should Know seminar (2016 – ongoing, EHESS, Paris). Since 2019, she has been working as a professor at the Sint Lucas School of Fine Arts, Antwerp.